Furious rally falls short on senior day

2016-03-06T01:44:49Z

(Source: KAIT)

Fayetteville, AR (U of A) — Down by 27 with 15 minutes left, the Arkansas men’s basketball team put forth a spirited comeback attempt on Senior Day. It fell short, however, as the Razorbacks ultimately lost to South Carolina on Saturday afternoon by a score of 76-61. Arkansas ends the regular season with a 16-15 record, including a 9-9 mark in SEC play.

Following back-to-back three-pointers by Dusty Hannahs with 5:50 remaining, Arkansas trailed only 66-57, but that was the closest the hosts would get the remainder of the way. Hannahs and senior Anthlon Bell tied for the team lead with 16 points apiece, while senior Jabril Durham dished out a game-high 11 dimes.

The game was tied 14-14 just under the 12-minute mark of the first half when the Gamecocks gained separation. The visitors went on a 15-2 run over the next five minutes to take a 13-point lead, which they parlayed into a 36-24 halftime lead. For the second straight game, Hannahs led the team in first-half scoring; he had seven points.

South Carolina’s run continued into the second half, bursting out of the locker room with a 20-5 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 56-29 with 15 minutes remaining. A three-pointer by Bell ended the spurt and the Razorbacks began chipping away.

A Moses Kingsley dunk with 9:19 left brought the lead under 20 points. A Bell jumper at the 7:27 mark cut it down to 15. Then the piggybacking threes by Hannahs had Arkansas within nine with under six minutes to go. In all, a 28-10 run by the Razorbacks in just over nine minutes made it a 66-57 game at that point.

After the team traded a few scores, a Durham layup with 3:56 left got Arkansas to within striking distance once again at 70-61. But those were the last points the Razorbacks scored, as the Gamecocks ended the game on a 6-0 run and won by 15.